Cody Eakin: 'It's a good challenge for me'

At just 19, center Cody Eakin has left an impression on coaches throughout the Capitals organization and elsewhere prior to the start of his second rookie camp at Kettler Capitals Iceplex this week.

But Eakin, who tallied 47 goals for the WHL's Swift Current Broncos and impressed in nine games with the Hershey Bears after his junior season wrapped up, still has one year of junior eligibility remaining leaving the personable forward two options: do well enough to make the Capitals roster now or return to Swift Current for a final season, during which he will serve as the Broncos' captain.

"I just want to show that I can play here," Eakin said. "It is a longshot, but it's a good challenge for me to have. I'm working every shift, every practice with the hope to show that I'm ready to be out there and just able to win."

Yesterday, Coach Bruce Boudreau said he's looking forward to seeing how Eakin fares in an NHL preseason game and said he is the junior player who appears most determined to make his presence known. Last year when he arrived in Hershey, Eakin scored his first professional goal on his first professional shot. He also appeared in four games during the Bears' Calder Cup Final series.

"At 18 or 19 not everyone gets a chance to be out there," Eakin said. "When I first went down I was surprised I popped right into the games and I just took in as much as I could after that when I wasn't playing as much. I was fortunate enough to be able to play in the finals and that was just an eye opener. ... It's great to be part of something like that especially at a young age."

A return to juniors would give Eakin an opportunity to serve as Swift Current's captain, something he's looking forward to.

"I'm excited to have that chance," he said. "It's going to be a little bit different for me but I've always tried to be a leader in my career and I've tried to model myself after the older guys I've seen in the past. You just try to do good things and help the young guys out. I always want to be the hardest working guy on the ice, guys respect that, when every time you go out there you're doing all you can."

*The rookies are participating in on-ice testing this morning but check back later on for notes from Day 2 of camp.

I want to see Eakin play with a more consistent edge. He showed that in little spurts in the WHL. He already looks like a better quicker slightly gritter version of bGordo. There's no reason why he can't use that speed to full benefit and be a real disruptive force down low. And he's not afraid of the front of the net like he showed with Hershey last yr. I'd like to see him eventually be worked onto our PK units.

Eakin is the type of guy you let play the first 8-10 regular season games and see if he can hang with the big boys, and if not then send him down. If he has those games under his belt he will know what he needs to work on for next year. If he is not close, then send him down, but if it is a choice between him and someone going to Hershey, keep him, the Hershey option is there all season,but once he goes to Juniors he must stay until the end of his team's season and can not be recalled.

I think it was that article where I saw it. This is a quote from that article(focus on the last sentence):

"As part of last week’s CBA amendment agreement with the NHL Players’ Association, the NHL has until 5 p.m. on Sept. 17 to make a decision on whether it will punish the Devils in any way for the first Kovalchuk contract. The league can fine the Devils up to $3 million and/or take away draft picks. There will be no loss of salary cap space and Kovalchuk will not be penalized."

If this article is correct the Devils could be punished but not in terms of loss of salary cap space.

Ok sgm3 I missed that part. I had seen a few other places that had them waiting but that was the article I had posted before. I don't know what the exact agreement between the NHLPA and the NHL was but I am pretty sure the origninal CBA says that any fine counts against the cap. Like I said they could have agreed as part of closing the loophole that NJ would not be fined cap space and I just don't know but I have seen things on ESPN and some other sites saying NJ was waiting til they knew exactally how much cap space they had to shed. It would explain why they haven't made any more at all yet.

Hmm, according to that statement, their cap wont be affected. Just a monetary penalty. So unless they are worried about losing picks (and ergo wanting them involved in trade talks), I cant see what would prevent them making deals to clear cap space.

what is preventing them could be the fact no team wants to help, especially the teams with salary cap space. Those teams could sit back and hope the Devils put players on waivers so they dont have to give up anything. It's an intersting situation playing out around the league with NJ, Van, Cal, Boston, NY Rangers all basically in cap trouble. I know Boston and Van will get under it with using LTIR but it will only help for part of the season until those players come back.

We are not sure if that story is 100% accurate. Like icehammer97 said, there have been other stories indicating that the Devils may lose some cap space.

@icehammer97

I read that it was a part of the overall agreement that the Devils would not lose cap space because of the Kovy deals.

I have no idea if it is true or not.

If the Devils do not need to clear cap space until October 1, there is no rush for them to clear it now. If there are no good deals on the table they can just wait a few weeks to see if someone ups an offer. If all offers are pulled then they can always waive a player.

I'm sure Lou is evaluating all possible solutions. He may even wait until the end of September to see if any injuries occur during training camp. Often times injuries can make teams more desperate and raise the prices. Also, if a Devil suffers an injury and goes on LTIR then that could create enough temporary cap space enabling the Devils to delay a deal for even longer.

I think he might end up having a bit more offensive upside than Gordo.
-------

for sure, when I said he looked "better" I was referring to his offensive upside. He's quick, he's got some tenacity and he'll need plenty more of that to make up for his lack of size/strength. So I hope he gets there, and I hope its part of his mental makeup to play a bit of an edgy game. You saw that here n there last yr in the W so I hope he continues down that path. No reason why he can't turn into a bit of a Scotty Upshall type. Quick, talented, a little abrasive, likes the corners etc. I want to see as many top 6 forwards on this team who can play with an edge. It'll make us more competitive with the other teams built along that vein.

@ Steve. Lou might make a trade that makes the Caps better. Of course it will be to help his team get under the Cap but we have a lot of young guys who could make a roster like theirs who are looking for cheap players that can still help. Guys like Cody Eakin, Perreault, and both of the Gordons. All guys who could play on 3rd or 4th lines especially with some of the leaders they have in NJ and are all under $1m giving NJ some major cap help. I know people have talked about Zajac but even if he doesn't get moved there are guys like Arnott with his $4.5m cap hit who could be moved and would be a good gritty #2 center for us. Now I have no idea if NJ would trade him since they just traded for him but they may be forced to if they cannot find others that can be traded.

I'd love to see Eakin in a pre-season game. He was one of the players that impressed me the most at the prospects game in July. He was quick with really good puck handling skills. I agree with the previous posts on his consistency since he has the skills, he just needs to show them over more than 2 or 3 games.

Arnott is not gritty anymore. He used to be, but now he's content to skate around and not get involved. He pretty much stopped being a gritty player 4 yrs ago when he went from Dallas to Nashville. He's a big body, that's about it. But Dave Steckel is grittier than Arnott is.

Doubt the Caps would trade Eakin, he seems to be one of our top prospects right now at forward. I could see NJ possibly being interested in AGordon but not Boyd. They already have Rod Pelley in that role and he actually knows how to be a true grinder unlike Gordo.

The guy most likely to get moved is Salvador and I'd take him if possible. He can play on a 2nd pairing and give you good minutes and he's tough. The Devils have 2 young guys who can step into that defensive dman role - Corrente and Fraser.

@cstanton I think Arnott is much grittier then you seem to think. I have seen him play against Detroit as well as other teams and he still goes into the dirty areas especialy in front of the net. He is not the player he was in Dallas but he could be to our second line what Knuble is to the first only even better defensivly. I also wouldn't mind Salvador (at this point I would take any NHL defensman so we don't have to use Sloan or Erskne every game).

The reason why I had B. Gordon as a player who NJ might want is they might be looking for some guys who have NHL experience so they are not left with too many guys playing their first NHL games replacing guys they had to trade.

watch a kid named Zac Rinaldo for the Flyers. He's a tougher version of SDR. And nasty as they come. Wouldn't be surprised to see him take over Danny Carcillo's role in the next 2 yrs. They'll get better bang for their buck by replacing Carcillo with Rinaldo. They also signed a Mike Knuble type. An immovable force named Mike Testwuide. Overall though they're carrying less tough guy grinders in this rookie camp than in yrs past. Defensively they finally have a young prospect who may actually hit the nhl in Kevin Marshall. That position has traditionally been the hardest one to fill from within for Philly. The cupboard's been bare since they drafted Pitkanen. (Bartulis is average)

The Devils will NOT lose cap space even if fined. The deal was negotiated with the nhlpa to not lose cap space as that would conceivably hurt the players. Any fine will only hurt the owners of the Devils.

maybe compared to a Nylander. But he's a shell of his former self. He used to play the game with a vengeance. His first 12/13 yrs in the league were very impressive. He was your prototypical physically dominating forward. The only thing he didn't really do was fight but that was ok because he won every physical battle. He's 36 yrs old now and not what I would consider a gritty player. He's just a big body. I'm not saying I wouldn't take him at 2nd lne center but he's nothing like he used to be. He barely finishes his checks now, he doesn't push defensemen back into the goalie like he used to. For once, I'd like to see some younger guys in their prime come over here instead of picking up old faaarts. And not just a part timer like DJK either but someone who we can add to the "core". The one younger recent acquisition on our roster - Chimera - certainly doesn't fit the mold of what I'd like to see added. I'm just waiting for his contract to drop off at this point unless he somehow gets an injection of backbone.

Did you go last year? How crowded does it get and how hard is it to get the tickets? Their requesting system is a farce being that you dont actually get to reserve a ticket.

It's like that Seinfeld episode with the car rental...

Seinfeld: "the whole point of the reservation is to make sure there is a car for you. It's easy to take the reservation, but you forgot the part about keeping a car."
Car guy: "I know what a reservation is sir"
Seinfeld: "I don't think you do."

The reason why I had B. Gordon as a player who NJ might want is they might be looking for some guys who have NHL experience so they are not left with too many guys playing their first NHL games replacing guys they had to trade.

Posted by: icehammer97 | September 13, 2010 3:41 PM | Report abuse

anything can happen but when you traditionally look at who Lou employs on his bottom two lines you'll find that BGordo doesn't quite fit the mold. This upcoming season he'll have Clarkson and Rolston (unfortunately via his ntc) being centered by possibly Rod Pelley and then LeBlond playing on the 4th line with a combination of options such as Patrick Davis, Josefson, Adam Henrique (all of whom make less than BGordo). And they have to move Zubrus as well, unfortunately for them.

Second SAOTI I have not gone before (normally I am at school out of state by now). I talked to someone I play hockey with who has gone before and he said to get there early because what they do is overreserve the tickets. They do this because they expect some people who reserve tickets don't show since there is no money committed. When you get there you show ID and pick up your tickets. The point of reserving the tickets is it gets you the oppertunity to get in. You 'reserve' the ability to get tickets. You still have to get there while their are still tickets left to actually get your ticket.

agreed on Arnott, he doesn't add anything. Zajac would be a great pick up if NJ would take a prospect or even player from us.

But look at the logjam of top-6 type players in the system: Johannson, Kuznetsov, Krygushev, Galiev; the smaller fast ones: Perrault, Eakins; the fragile but able: Gustaffson. The Caps will have to move or cut people loose within the year.

And Knuble may be too old to re-up, Semin and Flash, if they have "contract" years (and that would be great for us, this year) would probably be too expensive...

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.